


Stay as Long as They Want

by she_who_the_river_could_not_hold



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Post-Canon, Stories from Summer, sfs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 22:12:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14657268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold/pseuds/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold
Summary: In the summer, sometimes our favorite memories are the little things that happen. While babysitting Holly with Mike, El finally gets the chance to experience catching fireflies in the Wheeler backyard.





	Stay as Long as They Want

Dusk was just beginning to fall on Hawkins, an inky, indigo blue dipping deeper and deeper onto the horizon as the sun slowly melted away. The air was warm, the humidity keeping the cool night air at bay while a gentle breeze made the leaves dance. Crickets occasionally chirped at each other and there was a general hum from the residents of Hawkins enjoying the longer days of summer.

 

The lazy days of mid-summer had also reached the Wheeler household, on who-knows-what-day-this-even-is (summer vacation really is the best).

 

Ted and Karen Wheeler had left for a dinner with some of Ted’s golf buddies. An outdoor meal that would no doubt be on the patio of one of his wealthier friends, as the husbands complained about their jobs and their latest round of golf (it was always the equipment’s fault, not their own, for their high scores), while their wives would swap stories about their children and take the time to vent about their husbands to sympathetic ears.

 

Which left Mike in charge to babysit Holly. 

 

He normally would have complained about that _except_ that baby-sitting turned out to be on the list of “Jim Hopper Officially Approved” activities that El could do.

 

The wait for her to receive complete clearance wasn’t quite ready yet, but they’d sat around as a group to determine safe activities that could get her out of the cabin and socializing a bit more while they waited for the thumbs up. They managed to squeak in some outside trips to places like the movie theater, but more often than not, El seemed to enjoy hanging out with the party the most, even if it was just at each of their houses.

 

Most of the time, she would always find ways to be over at Mike’s. And it turned out that Karen was thrilled with Hopper’s new adopted daughter being able to assist with babysitting.

 

_And goodness her, it was so sweet the way Michael looked at her. Such a pretty little thing too, so nice and appreciative about everything._

 

The two of them were currently cleaning up in the kitchen after a full dinner of Mac and Cheese, one of the only things that Mike could make. But oh boy did he make it well. Nancy sometimes offered to make other things, but tonight she and Jonathan were out and that left the decision making up to Holly. And she had immediately demanded Mike’s specialty. 

 

After a successful dinner, he and El had formed a system where he would wash the dishes and she would help put them away. She enjoyed using her powers to levitate some of them up to the top shelf where they belonged – it was both a good way for her to practice but also much easier than fishing out the wobbly stool that was stored under the sink. This was currently what they were up to when the youngest Wheeler came bounding into the kitchen.

 

“Mike! Mikey!”

 

Holly tugged at the end of his t-shirt, drawing his attention downwards.

 

“I wanna catch fireflies,” she demanded.

 

“Uh, I don’t know Holly,” Mike said, fidgeting a bit with a string at the bottom of his t-shirt that had been pulled further out with Holly’s grip. He had definitely hoped they could just put in a movie and he and El could just cuddle on the couch while they all watched it together.

 

“Fireflies?” piped up El’s voice and the two siblings turned to look at her.

 

“What are… fireflies?” She expanded her question, saying the word slowly as her brain immediately created the image of a fly actually on fire. _Why would Holly want to catch those?_

 

Mike immediately picked up on her confusion and was about to launch into an explanation but Holly beat him to it with an excited, “They’re fairy bugs!!”

 

He wanted to roll his eyes but the way El’s face lit up (still slightly confused though) made him pause.

 

“Well, Holly isn’t completely wrong I guess. They’re bugs that glow in the dark. You can catch them with jars,” he explained, watching as El’s excitement seemed to grow.

 

Well, that look she was now giving him definitely sealed the deal. 

 

They were going to go catch fireflies. 

 

* * *

 

They traipsed out into the backyard, the lawn extending out in front of them and disappearing into a line of trees, now just giant silhouettes against the dark sky. Nighttime had finally settled in and it was the perfect weather for being outside, where the heat of the day is gone but you still don’t need even a light jacket.

 

Holly was excitedly rocking back and forth on her heels, her blonde pigtails bouncing slightly. Her tiny hands barely managed to grasp the freshly washed-out jam jar, so she held it tightly to her chest with her dolls tucked under her armpits for safekeeping. Next to her, El herself had a similar expression of excitement. She still was trying to process what exactly it was they were going to do (she certainly didn’t want to catch any of the bugs at the cabin in a jar), but her anticipation was high purely based on Holly’s reaction to all of this.

 

Mike was just barely behind the other two, having quickly gone to grab some old picnic blankets from the basement so that if they sat on the grass it would be more comfortable, as well as some other supplies. 

 

Tossing it on the ground, he situated the blankets on the grass in a large square (just barely dodging Holly as she plopped down onto them). The grass was cool to touch with their bare feet, the blades giving way under their steps to the soft ground below. 

 

Sitting gingerly down on the ground, El carefully helped unscrew Holly’s mason jar lid before undoing her own.

 

“Here,” Mike said, handing the two girls damp paper towels. “If you place these at the bottom of the jar, it’ll make it so that it doesn’t dry out in there for them once we’ve caught them.”

 

Once they had pushed the paper into the bottom of the jars, Mike showed them the plastic wrap he had brought outside, along with a pair of scissors. 

 

“I’ll poke little holes in this so that we can use this instead of the actual lids. We don’t want them to die or anything without air.”

 

Holly nodded solemnly at that, her little face so serious that it was hard for El to not giggle at it. But it was also really adorable. And important that she was taking it seriously – El wasn’t too sure she wanted a bunch of dead bugs on their hands either. They watched quietly as Mike methodically poked the holes into the plastic wrap. Once he declared them complete, they carefully laid them out with small rocks on top of them so they wouldn’t clump together. It really was impossible to pull it apart the second it began to cling to itself.

 

“Now?” Holly asked impatiently once Mike had placed the last rock on one. 

 

He sighed, waving his hand out towards the yard.

 

“Do you see any yet Holly? We gotta wait,” he replied, doing his best to not snap at her. Luckily she missed the tone of his voice and she nodded and settled herself onto the blanket, knees pulled up, to await their arrival.

 

“So these bugs… glow?” El asked, her eyebrows knitted together in slight confusion while they waited for them to appear.

 

“Well you see, this tail looking part is actually a translucent exoskeleton!” Mike began to explain excitedly. “Since it’s clear, that’s how you can see it light up. And it glows because it’s a chemical reaction called bioluminescence and they do it ––”

 

“Mike,” El said, cutting him off by placing her finger on his lips. “Maybe you can explain it tomorrow. Let’s just enjoy catching them for now. Or, well waiting to catch them.”

 

He blushed a bit under her light touch and nodded his head as she withdraw her hand. 

 

His lips are tingling somewhat and the only thing holding him back from kissing her right there and then was the impending _“cooties!!”_ that Holly would undoubtedly yell out if she saw them(she had already done it once before and Mike hadn’t loved explaining that concept to El). For now, he’d have to wait to plant small kisses on her cheeks until later this evening.

 

Suddenly El let out a gasp, grabbing onto Mike’s shoulder and pointing with her other hand.

 

“Oh Mike, look!”

 

In front of them, closer to the edge of the property where the yard blended into the nature around them, small yellow lights began to appear. They appeared to blink as they floated up. They flickered in and out, not unlike the morse code that she had learned those many months ago. But instead of cold, detached beats, these were soft, delicate spheres of light that hovered in one spot before reappearing in another. 

 

“See, they’re fairies,” Holly whispered in awe. 

 

Mike would admit that he hadn’t really ever put much thought into fireflies. Sure they created cool effects because of the science behind their biology, but now as he watched them through El’s eyes, he found himself taken by them as well. And Holly was right, there was something magical about watching them.

 

“Come on,” he said finally, “are we going to catch them or what?”

 

The three clamored up to get over to the bugs.

 

“Remember, try not to crush them with your hand or the jar,” Mike warned Holly. 

 

She nodded, almost too distracted by the bugs that were appearing around them.

 

Lunging for the one closest to her, a burst of glee came out of her in the form of an excited shriek. When she realized that she had missed though, her mouth quickly turned into a pout. 

 

Her next attempt had the same result and now there was a small crease in her forehead.

 

“Holls, it’s alright,” Mike quickly intervened before the tears could come, crouching down so that he could look right into her eyes. “They can be hard to catch, we’ll get one.”

 

El cocked her head as the youngest Wheeler struggled to revive her early excitement after the disappointment of missing her first two tries. So when Holly once again went to go after another firefly, El gently tilted her head down, staring at the bug. The small reach of power was hardly anything; she barely even felt a tickle in her brain at the move, but it was just enough to slow the bug down as it started to float away. 

 

Right to the perfect speed for Holly to enclose it in her jar.

 

“Look!” Holly shrieked, spinning around to proudly hold up her jar. 

 

“That’s awesome,” Mike responded with a grin, sneaking a glance at El who bit her back her smile and gave him a small shrug.

 

It felt like the right thing to do.

 

Soon they had each caught quite a few bugs, some organically and some with a little help from El’s powers. El and Holly were chatting excitedly, comparing their jars to one another when Mike urged them back towards their set up so that they could sit.

 

The three of them made their way back up the lawn and returned to the blankets. It wasn’t until now as they sat down, that El recognized one as from the fort that Mike had built her. She peaked around Mike, noting that Holly was distracted by the fireflies, before leaning in and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. 

 

Mike blushed furiously, still not quite used to the freedom of being able for them to be affectionate with each other after so long of not even knowing if she was alive. He was pretty sure it was one of his favorite things, feeling the light pressure of her lips or her hand in his. All touch points that cemented that she was alive. 

 

He watched as she sat down cross-legged on the blanket and placed the jar in front of her. She was watching it with pure fascination and he felt his heart practically grow just at the mere sight. He couldn’t wait to show her even more things this summer and made the mental note to have Dustin take her to the pond nearby. If fireflies fascinated her, he had a feeling that she’d love tadpoles too.

 

El’s gaze suddenly grew tense, her eyes narrowing and biting her lip nervously. 

 

Catching her new expression, Mike felt a wave of nerves take over him and he scooted closer to her from his position between her and Holly. 

 

“El, what’s wrong?” he asked in a rush.

 

Almost as if she hadn’t realized she had been expressing her emotions so clearly, El shook her head quickly and looked up at Mike. She attempted to give him a reassuring smile but he could tell something really was bothering her. He gently placed his hand on her knee, on top of a scrape that she had gotten when she had slipped off of Max’s skateboard earlier that week. 

 

“It’s alright if something doesn’t feel right. What’s up?”

 

“They’re…” she began nervously, looking back down at the jar. “They’re trapped aren’t they? They don’t even know they’re in there and when they’ll be stuck. And being stuck is so scary, and what happens then when they figure it out?”

 

Her words are tumbling out of her mouth, a result of what appears to be oncoming panic and the unending lessons of speaking now that she was able to hang out with everyone. Her eyes though aren’t focused on the bugs anymore and look like they’ve begun to see things that aren’t there with them, perhaps memories from not long ago.

 

Mike quickly moves so that he’s resting on his knees in front of her, his hands clutching hers as they held the jar. Holly thankfully seemed to be intent on showing the illuminated bugs to her dolls and appeared to be unaware of what was unfolding.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay El. We don’t keep the fireflies in the jars forever,” he whispered urgently, trying his best to reassure her.

 

She breathed in stuffily and looked up at Mike, her eyes beginning to glisten with tears in the light of the evening.

 

“You–-you don’t?”

 

“No! Of course not, they usually stay in the jars for a couple days before you let them go. But if it would make you feel better, we can release them tonight,” Mike added on, rubbing his thumb absentmindedly across her knuckles as he attempted to sooth her.

 

Letting out a shuddering breath, El felt relief begin to overtake her and her shoulders relaxed. 

 

“Here,” Mike said, gently taking the jar from her hand lifting the plastic wrap off with a slight crinkle. The clear material eased off the top and he nestled it into the ground in front of them. 

 

“Now they can leave, or they can stay as long as they want.”

 

That seemed to finally ease El’s panic and she wiped away the runaway tears from her cheeks, giving Mike a small smile and a nod of her head. Reassured that she feeling better, Mike gave her hand one last squeeze before leaning over towards Holly.

 

“Hey Holly, we’re going to let the fireflies go now okay? That way they can fly away and enjoy their night too,” he said gently. 

  
He hadn’t needed to worry though, with Holly anxiously wanting to mimic El and also not see dead bugs, she willingly handed her glowing jar to Mike so he could unwrap the plastic wrap from the top. Then taking the jar, he placed it next to El’s so that the jars somewhat leaned up against each other. He then pushed himself back to return to sitting in between the two girls.

 

The three watched as the fireflies began to inspect the opening of the jars, poking their antennae out as if it to test the air. The two jars were illuminated by the moon and distant streetlights from the other side of the house, a glowing outline around their glass accented by the flashing lights of the insects. 

 

El lifted Mike’s arm and snuggled up close to him, placing it back down around her shoulders. Her curls tickled at his nose and his breathed in deeply, taking in the smell of her slightly floral-smelling shampoo and the woodsmoke smell that she carried with her. Her fingers tangled into his t-shirt and the rhythm of their breathing fell into sync. 

 

On the other side of Mike, Holly had been busy setting up her dolls up to watch the fireflies too, but now found herself growing tired. She didn’t want to admit she was though (that would mean going to bed and she wasn’t ready), but seeing El rest on her head on Mike seemed like a good idea. She’d just do it for a minute anyway. So his little sister curled up on the blanket, her small body pulling itself into a ball as she turned one of his legs into a pillow. Mike was startled for a minute; he tried to not flinch too much as to avoid disturbing her, but he smiled at the sight. Soon enough, being up long-past curfew caught up to her and he could hear her breathing slow into a restful pace.

 

“I think summer is going to be my favorite season,” El murmured into the night.

 

Mike hummed in agreement, dropping a soft kiss onto the top of her head. 

 

With that, the two fell silent again as they watched the last of the fireflies crawl hesitantly out of the jars and dance their way into the night.


End file.
